[RESOLVED] Javascript split on only first space

[pimvdb]

I guess this is a stupid questen but I cannot find a solution. What I want is to split a string, but with a limit. Say I have the following string:

20 nice cookies

I'd like to get an array containing:

20
nice cookies

Splitting with a space returns 3 elements, and with a limit of 1 it returns 1 element (20), and the rest is discarded. How do I accomplish what I want?

Thanks.

[pimvdb]

Well, I decided to make my own function for this, it works at least.

parseOut('I have 20 nice cookies', ' ', 2, ' ', 1);

returns 20. It's not exactly what I was asking for but this is what I needed.
str - the string
before - the first delimiter
index1 - where the first delimiter is (in the above example, the space between I and have should be ignored therefore index 2)
after - the second delimiter
index2 - where the second delimiter is, counting from the first delimiter

indices are 1-based, not zero based (for my own pleasure ).

function parseOut(str, before, index1, after, index2) {
 var c = 0;
 var c2 = 0;
 var res = '';
 if(index1 > -1) {
  for(var i = 0; i < index1; i++) {
   c=str.indexOf(before, c + 1);
  }
  res = str.slice(c + before.length);
 }
 else {
  res = str;
 }
 if(index2>-1) {
  for(i = 0; i < index2; i++) {
   c2 = res.indexOf(after, c2 + 1);
  }
  res = str.slice(c + before.length, c + c2 + before.length);
 }
 else {
  res = str.slice(c + before.length);
 }
 return res;
}

[kows]

use the split() method:

var string = "20 cookies";

alert(string.split(" ", 1)[0]);

[pimvdb]

In such case it's very simple indeed, but I needed a function so that I can also get '20' out of 'I have 20 nice cookies' or something like that. But the function I posted above works perfectly for me.

[kows]

why didn't you post saying that you needed "20" from that string rather than the string you had posted then? either way, if you're looking to get the third word from a sentence then it's just as simple to modify the split() call and return the third element:

string.split(" ")[2]

there's no reason to reinvent the wheel. if you're looking to get the number from a specific string, then you might consider using a regular expression to capture it instead.

[pimvdb]

Thanks for your reply and sorry for not being clear. The string I am actually working with is (it's from a game):

Selling 1 H.a.m. boots at 1810, 0% complete, earning 0 gp so far

I should also be able to capture 'H.a.m. boots' from it, so I first have to split on the second space and then at ' at '. Because 'H.a.m. boots' also contains a space and both delimiters are not the same, I needed a more advanced version of the split method which I couldn't find.

[kows]

if things are always in this format:

Selling {quantity} {item_name} at {price}, {percentage} complete, earning {earning} gp so far

then you can write a regular expression that lets you get at whatever you want. you're welcome to use the one I wrote:

// Regular expression
var regex  = new RegExp('Selling ([0-9]+) (.+) at ([0-9]+), ([0-9]+\%) complete, earning ([0-9]+) gp so far');

// String to match against
var string = "Selling 1 H.a.m. boots at 1810, 0% complete, earning 0 gp so far";

// Execute regular expression
var match = regex.exec(string);

// Does it match?
if(string.match(regex)){
  
  // Assign variables
  var quantity    = match[1]
    , item_name   = match[2]
    , price       = match[3]
    , percentage  = match[4]
    , earning     = match[5];
  
  // Dump
  alert('Quantity: '    + quantity    + "\n"
      + 'Item name: '   + item_name   + "\n"
      + 'Price: '       + price       + "\n"
      + 'Percentage: '  + percentage  + "\n"
      + 'Earning: '     + earning     + "\n");
}

[pimvdb]

I'm a very beginner and don't even understand the basics of regexp yet. It looks much clearer and also very useful in certain situations like this. Thanks a lot, I'll start searchiing for some regexp tutorials!